Rising to the competition and taking on a number of 4A teams paid off for the Powell High School track and field teams in Sheridan on Tuesday. The Panthers added four more qualifying standards on the girls’ side, four new qualifying standards on the boys’ side and two new school records at the Gary Benson 3A/4A Clash.

After coming up short by one-fourth of an inch a week ago, Braxton Nelson left no doubt of breaking the triple jump record in Sheridan, smashing past the old record of 45 feet, 5 3/4 inches set by Dylan Preator in 2019.

Nelson’s leap of 46 feet, 6 inches, broke the old record by more than two feet.

His record setting day didn’t stop there, as he broke the long jump record set by his older brother Caden in 2024, beating it by an inch with a leap of 22 feet, 10 1/2 inches, winning both events.

“Braxton had a great meet,” coach Scott Smith said. “His triple jump was especially impressive as he had already broken it on his first jump and then ended up sitting third on his last jump and hit that huge 46’ 6” jump to win the competition.”

The Panthers added several qualifiers to the state team, as individually the girls added a brand new qualifier in Shelby Zickefoose who took fourth in the 1600 meters with a time of 5 minutes, 27.58 seconds. Karee Cooley added another mark to her tally, as she took fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:25.52.

The Panther boys had two new qualifiers in the 200 meters, as Karcher Foley was ninth with a time of 23.29 and David Stearns was 11th with a time of 23.51.

Girls who qualified in the relays included two new variations, as the 4x100 team of Averie Warner, Ashlee Jacobsen, Kindyle Floy and Audrey Johnson qualified with a time of 52.15 to take sixth, while the 4x400 relay team of Paige Sanders, Lynea Christensen, Kaytlee George and Johnson qualified in 4:12.46 in fourth place.

The Panther boys added their first 4x400 relay qualifying team as Brayden Benander, Stearns, Tanner Seifert and Sawyer Wormald qualified by seven seconds with a 3:30.64 to take third, and the Panthers added a fourth variation in the 4x100 relay, the fastest to date as the team of Cobey Khan, Nelson, Stearns and Breckyn Kobbe qualified in 44.11 to take fifth.

Additional Panther winners included Sanders in the triple jump (36-4 1/2) and Wormald in the 300 meter hurdles (39.1).

Some additional strong finishes came as a result of Panthers grabbing new personal records, as George took second in the 400 meters (58.64) and neared the school record; Zickefoose was second in the 3200 meters (12:32.04); Nalani Jordan was second in the discus (128-6) and fourth in the shot put (37-11) while Korbyn Warren was second in the 3200 meters (10:39.51).

“It was nice to see Nalani and Shelby taking advantage of great weather and stiff competition to compete at their highest. They really had big PR’s on the day,” Smith said. “Kaytlee has been running very well, and is still learning how to run the 400. I am really excited to see where she ends up this year as she keeps improving from week to week.”

As a team the Panther girls were the top 3A team with 81 points and fifth overall, and the Panther boys were the second 3A team and sixth overall, just nine points behind Cody with 62.5.

Powell’s busy week continues with a tri against Worland and Cody in Cody on Friday afternoon and the Rocky Mountain Invitational on Saturday morning in Cowley.

GARY BENSON 3A/4A CLASH

* Denotes state qualifying mark

GIRLS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Natrona County 145.5, 2. Sheridan 126.33, 3. Thunder Basin 125.33, 4. Kelly Walsh 110, 5. Powell 81, 6. Cody 47.33, 7. Buffalo 21, 8. Campbell County 11, 9. Big Horn 6.5

100 meter dash — 17. Kindyle Floy 13.44, 20. Ashlee Jacobsen 13.57, 21. Averie Warner 13.63

200 meters — 6. Kaytlee George 26.5*, 13. Averie Warner 28.06

400 meters — 2. Kaytlee George 58.64*, 12. Lynea Christensen 1:06.65

800 meters — 5. Karee Cooley 2:25.52*, 18. Macie Velasco 2:45.65

1600 meters — 3. Karee Cooley 5:20.64*, 4. Shelby Zickefoose 5:27.58*

3200 meters — 2. Shelby Zickefoose 12:32.04

100 meter hurdles — 14. Abigail Visocky 17.52, 19. Vera Thomas 17.86, 21. Kate Williams 17.94, 22. Stella Shoopman 18.22

300 meter hurdles — 9. Abigail Visocky 50.29, 17. Stella Shoopman 53.92

4x100 relay — 6. Averie Warner, Ashlee Jacobsen, Kindyle Floy and Audrey Johnson 52.15*

4x400 relay — 4. Paige Sanders, Lynea Christensen, Kaytlee George and Audrey Johnson 4:12.46*

1600 sprint medley relay — 3. Lucy Ostermiller, Abigail Visocky, Lynea Christensen and Macie Velasco 4:38.07

High jump — T15. Kindyle Floy and Keylyn Knuth 4-5

Pole vault — T13. Kate Williams 8-6

Long jump — 4. Paige Sanders 16-10 1/4*, 14. Kaytlee George 16-0 1/2, 19. Lucy Ostermiller 14-10 3/4, 25. Peyton Ott 14-1

Triple jump — 1. Paige Sanders 36-4 1/2*, 19. Kara Sanders 30-7 1/4

Shot put — 4. Nalani Jordan 37-11*, 7. Anai Torres 33-8 1/2, 13. Sam Edgell 30-9

Discus — 2. Nalani Jordan 128-6*, 6. Anai Torres 103-1, 9. Sharae Shoopman 95-6, 20. Sam Edgell 73-7

BOYS RESULTS

Team scores — 1. Sheridan 189, 2. Thunder Basin 108.5, 3. Kelly Walsh 100.5, 4. Natrona County 90, 5. Cody 71.5, 6. Powell 62.5, 7. Big Horn 36, 8. Buffalo 20

100 meter dash — 11. Cobey Khan 11.78, 19. Breckyn Kobbe 12.03, 27. Tristin Winninger 12.33

200 meters — 9. Karcher Foley 23.29*, 11. David Stearns 23.51*, 23. Breckyn Kobbe 25.23

400 meters — 10. Brayden Benander 52.45, 12. Alex Werner 54.11, 21. Harper Havron 57.41, T22. Tristin Winninger 57.98

800 meters — 21. Michael Stensing 2:19.48

1600 meters — 9. Korbyn Warren 4:42.53, 21. Colin Walker 5:15.09, 23. Michael Stensing 5:17.58

3200 meters — 2. Korbyn Warren 10:39.51

110 meter hurdles — 4. Sawyer Wormald 15.89*, 11. Lincoln Crawford 16.97

300 meter hurdles — 1. Sawyer Wormald 39.1, 13. Lincoln Crawford 44.59

4x100 relay — 5. Cobey Khan, Braxton Nelson, David Stearns and Breckyn Kobbe 44.11*

4x400 relay — 3. Brayden Benander, David Stearns, Tanner Seifert and Sawyer Wormald 3:30.64*

4x800 relay — 4. Alex Werner, Colin Walker, Michael Stensing and Korbyn Warren 8:59.36

Pole vault — 5. Dayton Lawrence 12*, T8. Troy Cheatham 11-6, T11. Landon McDonald 10-6

Long jump — 1. Braxton Nelson 22-10 1/2*, 11. Karcher Foley 19-9 1/4, 24. Tristin Winninger 17-10

Triple jump — 1. Braxton Nelson 46-6*, 10. Brady Harvey 40-11 1/2, 22. Braxton Batt 34-8

Shot put — 17. Kaden Wolff 40-6 1/2, 18. Brady Harvey 40, 24. Gabe McMillin 38-9, 28. Levi Cox 37-0 1/4

Discus — 9. Brady Harvey 124-2, Kaden Wolff 114-5, 21. Gabe McMillin 105-7, 28. Conner Farwell 89